


Sucker Punch (Bucky Barnes)

by sal20nini



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Avengers Tower, F/M, Fights, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Kissing, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, SHIELD, SHIELD Agent Bucky Barnes, Snogging, Spies & Secret Agents, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25823989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sal20nini/pseuds/sal20nini
Summary: You are a weapon and technology expert working with the Avengers. Bucky has been infatuated with you ever since he's met you but he's always at a loss of words when it comes to you. Frustrated he decides to avoid you till his feelings disappear or at least till he can man up and ask you out.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Kudos: 61





	Sucker Punch (Bucky Barnes)

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by that one Skye and Ward scene in AoS

Y/N was not a field agent. She was an engineer, an expert in weapons and technology who was comfortable in the safety of her lab. But Steve seemed to think otherwise.

He wanted her to train so that she could defend herself in case there was an attack on the tower.

But seriously, who in their right mind would even think about attacking the Avengers Tower? Then again, all these evil dudes always seemed to be out of their minds.

The point being Y/N thought Steve was being overprotective and tried everything to convince him that her lab which was in close proximity to Bruce and Tony's was probably the safest place in the entire tower. She was seriously considering making a fifty slide PowerPoint presentation but Steve was like a stubborn grandpa and wouldn't take no for an answer. Y/N blamed that upon her being the youngest of the group and Steve feeling the need to protect her because she was like a younger sister he never had. Whatever it was, Y/N wished she had been left alone to tinker with her inventions.

"God! Could this be any tighter?" Y/N groaned.

She was fidgeting with the skin-tight training clothes they had made her wear.

"I feel naked." She emerged out of the room.

Now, Y/N was an inherently lazy person and didn't lead what people would call a healthy lifestyle. She had managed to keep herself alive and free from any health problems but her body was neither like the skinny models that swarmed Tony's extravagant parties nor athletic like Natasha's.

Yes, she was comfortable in her own skin but she lacked the self-esteem to wear this outfit that left very little to the imagination.

"When will you stop being so dramatic." Steve chuckled.

"I'm being serious. This is torture. I'm so scared it's going to tear that I might not even raise my arm up, let alone punch something. You're setting me up for failure, mister." She raised her hands up in defeat as she followed behind him.

"Come on! You know these are custom made, specifically designed to keep a track of your vitals, assess your fitness all while keeping you sweat-free. It's bloody amazing if you ask me. Didn't one of your friends make this?" He turned around.

"Yeah and trust me according to her all of those things are just an added bonus to her main objective." Y/N smirked. Her gaze shifted to Steve's toned abdomen.

"What do you mean?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously! You can be such a prude sometimes." She laughed.

"What...you can't be serious?"

Y/N just smirked in reply enjoying the traumatised expression on his face.

"I thought she was a good girl."

"Good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught." Y/N winked at him as she jogged with her back towards the door.

She slammed into someone. "Shoot! I'm sorry."

She turned. It was Bucky Barnes.

She hadn't really talked to the guy. To be fair he seemed really quiet and she didn't know if he'd want to talk to someone like her. Sure, he was Steve's best friend but he just had this mysterious aura around him that made him seem like this cool, completely out of her league kind of person.

Not to mention he was incredibly hot. Handcrafted by God himself. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.

Bucky didn't say anything. He helped her steady herself.

Steve was the one to break the tension. "Buck will be your trainer."

"He will?"

"I will?"

Y/N and Bucky said at the same time.

Steve nodded, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Bucky whispered as he grabbed Steve and dragged him out of earshot.

"Why do you ask when you're going to drag me away anyway."

Bucky fought the urge to slap the grin off his face.

"Why are you making me do this?"

"I'm doing you a favour, Buck. You don't have to tell me everything, sometimes I just know." He smiled.

Bucky felt like he had been smacked in the head with a lamp post.

"You just love playing Cupid don't you." He shoved Steve playfully.

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for romance," Steve smirked as he walked away.

"Have fun." Y/N gave him a sarcastic smile.

Bucky turned his attention to Y/N. He had to remind himself to breathe.

Bucky's heart raced every time he saw Y/N tinkering in her lab, dwarfed under her enormous lab coat. Or the times he had found her in the game room in baggy sweats beating the shit out of Sam and Tony at Mario Kart.

He had never dreamed of seeing her in training gear but now that he had, he couldn't look away.

"If you've finished checking me out can we get started?" She gave him a sarcastic smile.

"I wasn't..."

"Save it."

Bucky couldn't help but think that she hated his guts. He hadn't even had the chance to speak yet and things were already going downhill.

He cleared his throat. "I take it you've got the weapons part covered."

Y/N nodded in agreement.

"So, we'll be working on hand to hand combat, you might not have weapons available at all times."

She rolled her eyes. "Is this really necessary?"

Bucky shrugged. "Steve requested it, Fury approved it."

"Well, you could always tell them we _trained_." She made air quotes. "Not like they are going to check, anyway." She mumbled. "It will be our little secret." Y/N fought the urge to wink at him.

Bucky did not look pleased. "We just want you to be safe, Y/N." He sighed. "What if we can't reach you in time ?"

His genuine concern warmed Y/N's heart.

"Besides you work with Banner, a little self-defence is going to do you more good than bad."

"What? You expect me to wrestle the Hulk?" Y/N scoffed. "You might as well stab in the heart."

Bucky folded his arms over his chest as he glared at her. He looked very intimidating especially with his enormous metal arm gleaming under the lights.

Y/N knew exactly how deadly it was. She had had the opportunity to give it a few upgrades.

Unfortunately, they had delivered the arm sans the owner.

"Fine." She huffed and followed him to the punching bag.

"Give me your hand." Bucky held a roll of white tape in his hands. He turned her hand over so that her palm was facing him. He held her wrist gently as he wrapped the tape over her hand. Y/N was surprised by how gentle he was.

Wordlessly he picked up her other hand and repeated the process. He was careful with each move, especially with his metal arm.

Y/N smiled when few strands of his long hair fell against his cheek, obstructing his view. But Bucky didn't seem bothered. He simply finished the task and took a fighting position facing the bag.

He pulled his hands up high, near his face. "Jab, cross, like this." He showed her and backed up. "Your turn."

Y/N hit the bag weakly, barely moving it.

"My grandma has more life in her. God rest her soul." He teased.

"Well, I'm sorry but I don't spend my free time bench pressing." She punched again, this time with more force.

"You know the hardest part about boxing?"

"Getting punched in the face?" She mumbled sarcastically.

Bucky ignored her. "Keeping your hands up."

He once again pulled both of his hands up by his face to demonstrate.

Y/N dropped her hands in frustration. "The chances of finding me without a weapon is almost zero. This is unnecessary." She complained, hitting the bag a few times as she spoke.

Bucky just stared at her in amusement. He had never seen Y/N so worked up.

Bucky walked to the opposite side and held the bag in place. "Just focus, Y/N. You can do it."

Drawing strength from his words, Y/N took a deep breath. She punched with all her might while keeping her other hand up by her face.

"That was great!" Bucky smiled. "Now 10 minutes. Alternate."

"10!" Y/N groaned.

Bucky bit his tongue trying to keep the smirk off of his face.

"Remind me...why I joined...this organization, again?" Y/N huffed as she hunched holding her knees.

Beads of sweat dotted her forehead as her baby hair stuck to her face, lining it. But she was still the most beautiful girl Bucky had come across.

Why did he have to fall for someone completely out of his league was beyond him. A girl with her IQ would never even think about a guy like him.

Y/N sat down on the metal bench and sipped on her water. Her cheeks had turned red from exertion.

The sound of a gun barrel rolling made her straighten up. She snapped her head towards the direction of the sound.

"I thought we weren't doing weapons?"

Bucky was aiming a gun at her. If he was joking, his face surely wasn't giving it away.

A part of Y/N couldn't help but panic. What if something she had done or said had turned him into the Winter Soldier? She wouldn't stand a chance against him and her recent training history left no doubt in her mind.

"I'm about to shoot you in the head, is that how you react?" He raised a brow at her.

Y/N scanned her surroundings quickly. Unfortunately, everything she could use was out of reach.

Her next move managed to surprise him and her, both. Within seconds she aimed the mouth of the water bottle at him and sprayed its contents straight into his eyes.

Y/N took the opportunity to kick the gun out of his hand as Bucky tried to wrap his brain around what had just happened.

He stood stunned in place.

"Told ya I was good when these bad boys are involved." She pointed the gun at him. An unmistakable smirk was carved on her face.

But her moment didn't last very long as Bucky swiftly caught her wrist and spun her around so that Y/N's gun arm was locked over her chest and her back was to his chest.

"Lesson one: Don't gloat." He whispered.

She could feel his hot breath against her ears, turning them into an embarrassing shade of pink. Bucky took the gun out of Y/N's hand with his metal arm.

Y/N turned her head sideways so that she could see him from the corner of her eyes. In their current position, it was easy for Y/N to imagine that they were ballroom dancing instead of training. The intimacy of the stance had unleashed an entire zoo in her stomach. Bucky was no different. The sudden proximity had set his heart racing at a terrifying rate.

 _'Damn, she's beautiful.'_ He thought to himself. He allowed his eyes to linger on her soft lips for a bit.

Next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground with his back to the floor and Y/N was laughing her lungs out on top of him.

He didn't even realise that during his little slip-up Y/N had caught him unawares and kicked him in the shin, making him off balance.

As Bucky fell to the ground his one arm was still around Y/N, bringing her down with him.

"Lesson two: Don't get distracted." She bit her lip to avoid bursting into a fit of laughter again.

Bucky couldn't help but smile. She seemed so comfortable with her little head on his chest.

"Would you like to get lunch later?" The words left him before he could stop himself.

 _'Shit! This is it.'_ He thought.

Y/N was going to hate him for making this awkward. He could never talk to her again. _'_

 _Great going, Barnes.'_ He mentally chided himself.

"Like a...date?" Y/N looked at him with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Like a date." He confirmed.

"Finally!" She chuckled punching his chest playfully. "I thought you'd never ask."

Bucky was clearly shocked by her response. Delighted but shocked, nonetheless.

"What makes you say that?" He asked quizzically.

"I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice." She smirked.

It was Bucky's turn to turn as red as a tomato.


End file.
